Our Environment
Sodexo recognises its responsibility to the environment and strives to achieve environmental best practice. This is a global, national and local issue for Sodexo. Not only is legislation being strengthened, our clients' requirements for environmental management are also rising.
Our greatest impact is through our use of fuel, energy, our consumption of water and the waste associated with services. Given the nature of our business, we operate almost exclusively on other people's premises (with the exception of Tillery Valley Foods (TVF). While our control over energy, water consumption and waste disposal is restricted, we are addressing the issues with our clients.
In the UK and Ireland, we have had an environmental policy for many years and have reported on our environmental performance since 2002. During 2007, our environment team focused on establishing a performance baseline i.e. an accurate view of our current position: robust data collection means we can accurately measure progress towards reducing our environmental footprint.
Our 2010 environmental strategy
We have formulated a three year environmental strategy and improvement programme that sets out key objectives to be achieved by 2010. Our strategic objectives are to:
- implement a formal environmental management system for Sodexo UK & Ireland. This will be a documented system that mirrors current practice on how environmental issues are addressed at Sodexo. It will cover objectives development, communicating environmental information, training, roles and responsibilities, and performance data
- ensure continuous improvement in environmental performance year on year. We will improve data collection and implement reporting requirements where the effects of actions can be clearly determined
- inspire employee action. We will encourage involvement in environmental initiatives at site level and provide employees with accessible information relevant to their role
- integrate environmental considerations into all decision making processes. For example, the sourcing of new products and the purchase of new equipment
- make business segments responsible for their environmental impacts. Each of our business divisions is to take responsibility for its own environmental impacts through monitoring, measuring and raising awareness of key issues. The aim is for business divisions to incorporate environmental objectives into their individual business plans
- demonstrate long term environmental cost savings. Robust environmental management will drive operational efficiency and reduce operating costs
Our environmental forum
The environmental forum was launched in July 2007. Forum representatives include environmental health and safety (EHS) managers from across the business and individuals from our procurement and learning and development departments. Our corporate citizenship manager is also a member of the corporate citizenship forum to maximise the sharing of ideas and best practice.
The environmental forum meets quarterly to discuss environmental business needs, evaluate new technology and develop policies. It generates action plans and improves the environmental health and safety managers' ability to capture and report data. The meetings provide a central link to executives and ensure that we consult widely across Sodexo on environmental issues.
View the Corporate Environmental Policy Statement for Sodexo UK & Ireland. For more information please view our latest Corporate Citizenship Report.